Indian Almond Leaf

[dogmom]

I have these beautiful Indian almond leaves I ordered on eBay. How do I use them? I think my fish is dying, but she is still eating so I figure the leaves can't hurt. Is there a formula for how much and how long I keep it in the water? Thanks.

[vilmarisv]

Nope. You can place a leaf in the water and leave it there until you get tired of looking at it. It doesnt matter if it decomposes or if you replace it with every water change.
If you do frequent water changes, you can either prepare your new water in advance, place the IAL in and let the water age a couple of days.
You can also prepare a concentrated solution in a 2 liter bottle with a bunch of IAL in some warm (not boiling) declorinated water, leave it to cure for a week and pour a few ounces of it when you do water changes. Keep adding leaves and water to keep your reserve going.

[monroe0704]

It's usually the owner's discretion when using IAL. Most use one full leaf per 10 gallon... They just lay it on top of the water and the tannins will slowly release in to the water. The leaf will then start breaking down and you can decide whether or not to replace it at that point.

For smaller tanks you can break up the leaf, but it will release tannins at a faster rate. Therefore your water will turn brown faster... Which isn't a big deal, but some don't like how it looks. It's really hard to mess up using IAL thankfully! I really enjoy the therapeutic affects of using IAL and have had many saved lives thanks to it :) let me know if you need/want any more guidance! Hope this helped!

[dogmom]

So I don't have to worry about using too much? The leaves are large (8" long) and she doesn't have much water since she is having trouble getting to the surface. I also got two smaller leaves that were sent as a free gift with the big leaves and they are probably only 4" long. Should I use one of the smaller ones? Thanks.

[monroe0704]

Honestly you can pick any of the leaves you have. I'd personally use the smaller because the larger leaves will turn the water really dark.